David Bennet posted this on ED the other day. The archive was on-line somewhere else a few years ago, and disappeared. Now it's on ISSUU:
https://issuu.com/dulcimerplayersnewsinc/stacks
Go to www.strothers.com and enter your VSL -- the distance between nut and bridge. Then enter the basic tuning that you are using -- DAA or DAd (not DAD or you'll get the wrong string size) one at a time -- and the calculator will do all the work for you.
Brand is irrelevant -- there are a literal handful of companies in the world which make music wire of various gauges, and they sell boxcar loads of the stuff to Martin, D'Addario, D'Arco and other string "manufacturers" who put on the ends (ball or loop), cut the string to various lengths, and put them in packages. It's all the same wire, regardless of the name on the package.
Personally I buy strings from www.juststrings.com because I can buy sets of strings for under $3 per set instead of the $5 to $8 you pay for brand name strings from a music shop.
When it comes time to replace the strings, only remove and change one string at a time. If you remove them all, you stand a chance of moving the location of the bridge, which can really mess up how your dulcimer sounds...
This will help. The results are a bit light so you can increase the size a couple of sizes. You should be aable to find single strings at a local music shop.
Hello. I would like to replace the strings on my new-to-me dulcimer... I noticed a few of the strings have a small amount of rust. I am not sure how old these strings actually are so I figured best to start out with new ones. Anyway I would love to hear recommendations for strings... Brand and size would be helpful. My dulcimer has a 26.5" fret board from nut to bridge. I am learning chords and picking with just my fingers and not using a noter or pick, plus I'm a newbie player, if that matters any also. Thank you in advance for your thoughts on the subject! ~ Selah
Back in July I sent an email to Lois Hornbostel asing about this issue and suggesting that if Mel Bay was no longer willing to host the Dulcimer Sessions material we could find another site to do so. Just today I received this brief reply: "I'm working on it."
Let's hope she succeeds.
Well I have 3 of my dream dulcimers, now there is just one more which is a hogfiddle by Bobby Ratcliff.
Then a TMB by John Knopp would be nice.
I've learned over the years how helpful it is to figure out the essence of a tune, what is tune at its most basic form. The necessity of working on this skill became clear when I was honest with myself about my own limitations as a player.
Mark said if you'd like to send an mp3 of you on PAR, he'll put back-up to it. Just let me know. :)
Robin, it's a skill, isn't it, to be able to hear the essence of a melody without all the clutter? And fiddles add a lot of clutter, that's for sure. I sometimes examine several examples of sheet music for a tune I'm working on. By looking at what they all have in common, you can sometimes isolate the core of a tune. Sometimes when I hear a fiddle tune I feel like the Austrian Emperor in the film Amadeus, who tells Mozart that his music has "too many notes."
Maybe you can lend me Mark for 15 or 20 minutes. A guitar accompaniment to my flatpicking version of "Pig Ankle Rag" would help out a lot (and maybe hide some of the imprecision in my picking). If I knew how to do even basic home recordings I would record my own guitar rhythm track, but I have no idea how to do that. Poor, poor ignorant me.
Dusty, I look forward to hearing your Pig Ankle Rag! I've heard it played on hammered dulcimer but don't recall having heard it on mountain dulcimer.
I've been thinking on Cattle In the Cane this morning. First, I need to experiment with tunings to get an appriate key. Then, since I'm dealing with a real fiddle-y tune (lots of notes), I'll work on the process of subtracting notes because there's no way I'll duplicate what a fiddle is doing.
My dream dulcimer at this point ... a large body , shorter scale VSL (25"), with false bottom - want the volume! 
Built in pickup and chromatic setup. Wood, I am flexible but ebony fretboard would be nice. Played a McCafferty dulcimer at Evart with a lot of these features - nice but open to suggestions....
This is a good topic for conversation, Robin. Thanks for posting. I may indeed have multiple responses.
There are lots of tunes that I would love to play but don't really "hear" yet on my dulcimer. But there are also a couple I've been working on a really long time. I've been practicing "Pig Ankle Rag" for a few years now. It took a while just to figure out all the notes for both the A and B parts. Then it took a while to figure out the syncopated rhythms. But I've been playing the tune for a long time, just working on getting it smoother and cleaner. Someday I hope to post a version that I'm happy with. But playing the song is also just a great flatpicking workout, so even if I never get the tune ready for prime time, I know my technique is improving as I keep working on it. My pinky in particular has been strengthened immensely by trying to play the tune.
I've loved the tune Cattle in the Cane for years! Betty Vornbrock of the Reed Island Rounders fiddles it beautifully. And on their cd Hell up Coal Holler, Gerry Milnes (fiddle) & Lorraine Lee Hammond (Appalachian dulcimer) play a really nice version of the tune.
Right now, the tune feels out of reach for me. . . Maybe someday I'll work up a noter/drone version.
Do any of y'all have any out-of-reach tunes now that you hope to figure-out someday?
That is quite distinctive. And I don't recall having seen the exact form on a mountain dulcimer before.
No label, hence my question...
My bad description -- it is a deep grooved circle in the scroll end of the head. Easy to make with a router and some router-experience.
No maker's label inside?
A closer view may clarify. The scroll is not a spiral but a concentric ring; it tapers dramatically from 36mm to 6mm. I will defer to your experience but I have not seen one anything like this.
https://www.banjohangout.org/photo/230369.
[I tried loading pix directly but when I tried both JPEG and PDF it said it had to be in JPEG or PDF format. IOW, it didn't recognize my formats.]
My current dream instrument is a Mike Clemmer, church dulcimer with butternut top on walnut body. Thanks for your attention
To me those scrolls aren't particularly distinctive. I've seen a lot of builders make that sort of 'grooved scroll'.
It's not square inches of sound hole per X amount of surface area... the equation uses the volume of the instrument, not the surface area, so the shape of the instrument is irrelevant -- hourglass, teardrop, box, little brown jug, bowed psaltery, violin, etc. For dulcimers I use, as a rough guide, the area of 4 American quarter coins -- not as much as 6, not as few as 3.
The shape of the soundhole(s) is irrelevant. It's the square area of holes that matters. Too little soundhole area and the instrument is muted. Too much soundhole area and the instrument sounds "brash". There's a complex formula called the Helmholtz Equation where you can calculate all this is you like partial differential equations. But most of us just say want 2-3 square inches of sound hole area for a 'good' sound.
You can certainly do leaves -- Cripple Creek was famous for their Aspen leaf holes -- and any decent luthier will know how many leaves to get the right sound...
I once built a replica Baltic Psaltery, on which the original instrument had just over 100 soundholes arranged in a spiral design, each hole was a hair less that 1/8" diameter....
(Any sales transaction should have return terms made clear before the purchase.)
Makes sense & many times so over looked.
Thanks for all the info, I will pass it on to the group I am with, since it's not something we knew.
Any sales transaction should have return terms made clear before the purchase. That's true for online purchases, retail stores, and yes even between friends.
Always find out seller's return policy before buying or commissioning any instrument, new or used!
Why? Because 'etiquette' is not legally binding in any way.. and it also varies tremendously. There is no standard policy for returns- different people/sellers all have different return policies... or no returns at all sometimes.
Paypal will usually help you if the item was damaged or misrepresented. But if it's a just matter of you changing your mind and the seller doesn't want it shipped back and had not stipulated a return policy, then paypal might not get involved. If the seller did not mention any return policy at all, then they have a right to say 'no returns' after the sale is complete. Unless they misrepresented the item or its condition.
As a buyer, you should ask for the return policy to be spelled out in writing if it's not already. Before money changes hands. We are talking about significant amounts of money here!
Time frame for return? I'd say two weeks. That gives a buyer plenty of time to decide whether you "like" an instrument or not, and determine that the instrument plays and tunes correctly. If the fret-spacing is off, or the tuners won't hold, or the baritone sound isn't what you expected, then a luthier or a store should take the instrument back, although, as Dusty sez, you'll probably have to pay shipping.
If you custom orders things like extra frets or custom sound holes or carvings, or color-dyed wood, and you just don't like it, then caveat emptor . You, the buyer, should have experimented with a taped on extra fret, or you and the luthier should have exchanged photos of carvings/colors long before the instrument was completed or shipped. IMHO a customized instrument cannot be returned, because a luthier or store will be hard pressed to find someone who wants that sort of customization, and will lose a lot of money.
Dealing with friends???? Good luck with that!!!
Marg, most reputable luthiers will refund your money upon return of a dulcimer if you are not happy with it. You might be responsible for the shipping costs, though. The same is probably true of music stores, although if you played the instrument before buying it they might be less than enthusiastic about the return. As for friends, well, I think you have to determine that on a case-by-case basis.
But I also think some responsibility rests with the buyer. If there is something truly wrong with a dulcimer, such as the intonation for example, you have every right to return it. However, if, for example, you buy a baritone dulcimer and just decide you don't like the lower register and want a standard dulcimer instead, well, I personally don't think the luthier or store should be responsible for your indecision.
What is the etiquette when buying or selling dulcimers?
Is there a time frame where you can return a dulcimer for a refund or offer a reimbursement if the dulcimer doesn't work out? Is there any difference if it's the builder, a music store or a friend?
My next dream dulcimer, I think, will be a Kevin Messenger Presnell reproduction, walnut back, sides, fretboard, butternut or poplar top, natural finish, not painted, Just intonated, Perfection or Wittner tuning pegs. Its on top of my bucket list for early next year.
Way cool! I gotta ask-- what did Jackson Browne's lap dulcimer look like?
I'm on my way to my dream dulcimer. I've wanted a Joellen Lapidus instrument since I played Jackson Browne's, back in the 70's. I've met with her twice and we're deciding on inlays. It also turns out we are, in some way, related! She's a great gal and I'm so excited about this. It will mean, of course, that I'm going to have to let go of some of the other dulcimers. Just trying to decide who needs a new home....
It helps to heat the fret with a soldering iron, if you're set on removing it. Heat melts any glue that might have been used, and also gets the wood to "let loose of the fret" easier. Fewer splinters occur. But maybe just leave it in?
( might also use this as an excuse to get another dulcimer!)
Ha, ha, that is why I got this one for the 1+. I play the 9 with my thumb & the space is not wide enough for that. Yes, I do need to become familiar with the 1+, I do keep hitting it when I want a 2 - not quit sure I like the sound when I slide over it.
No, I was not doing anything yet, just getting info & I am always thankful for what you all have to say. Ya'll have many years of knowing things about the dulcimer & I don't have enough time left to learn but get a quick look from you into all my questions. So again, thanks
Marg, I don't know how to remove a fret, so I can't help you there. However, the lack of knowledge has never discouraged me from speaking up! 
My advice is to be patient and not rush into altering your dulcimer in this way.
As others have explained, it would be easy to harm your freboard when removing a fret, and you certainly don't want to do that.
Skip might be right that if you keep playing and consciously think about the small space available for the 9th fret, your technique will improve and this problem may cease to exist.
And if you keep playing for a while, you might find uses for the 8-1/2 fret as you get more used to it.
For the three reasons above, I suggest waiting a while before making a final decision to remove a fret. You can always do it later, but in 6 months or so you might find it unnecessary or even undesireable.
You might also use this as an excuse to get another dulcimer!
Maybe it's a matter of familiarity using that fret?
Hmmm, sounds like something I shouldn't try on my own. I have written the builder & will see what he has to say - if he glued the frets in or not or would he take out one of his frets - then the trick of getting it to him.
The other thing I thought of was to file it down. Before I would do or have any of this done, I guess I would need to consider if I will have this dulcimer forever or would want to pass it on one day. But to make it work for me, I really feel I need to have more room to fret the 9.
Thanks
Removing a fret is not as easy as it sounds. You need to be very careful. Frets have tangs which hold them in place and when the frets are pulled the tangs have a tendency to pull some of the wood out of the fret board. Once the fret is removed, you need to fill that empty space. There are special tools designed to pull frets with minimal damage. Various types of wood used for fret boards react differently to having frets pulled. If the builder of your dulcimer glued the frets in, you have another whole set of problems. I am not suggesting it can't be done, but it is not a job for the faint-of-heart.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
